“Way to go, Ariel, and welcome to Court!” Principal Max continued as if the school hadn’t been hit by a tornado like in the freaking Wizard of Oz, taking us to a completely new land. I wouldn’t have been surprised if little orange men with green hair and overalls jumped out and started doing a jig. “Those are our four princesses, and one of them will be your queen! Congratulations again to all the nominees! Now, on to our princes—”
My ears cut out at that moment.
It was like I was in a wind tunnel or something. No sound broke through except the whoosh of my own breathing. My head felt a bit light, like I might pass out from lack of oxygen.
Toni was in front of me, saying something as she grinned from ear to ear. But for a few seconds, I couldn’t make out a thing.
What had Principal Max said?
Had she really called my name?
Was this some kind of cruel prank?
Unable to help it, I looked up—but nope. There was no bucket of pig’s blood waiting to drop on my head. I guess me not being Carrie’d was one mark in the positive column. But seriously, what the heck?
Toni gripped both sides of my head, forcing my eyes to meet hers.
“Ariel,” she said, shouted really, her voice finally breaking through. “Did you hear that? You made freaking Homecoming Court!”
“I thought I might’ve been hallucinating,” I said, still shocked.
“Well, you weren’t.”
“Good grief,” I muttered as the reality sank in. “How did this happen? There must be a mistake. I don’t even remember my name being on the ballot.”
“It was,” Toni said matter-of-factly. “Right between Wendy Dulluth and Jessica Eakes. There were, like, forty names listed, just for the senior girls, and yours was one of them. You should really pay more attention, A.”
I shook my head, trying to make sense of it all. “But that means someone had to nominate me.”
Toni nodded. “It means more than that. People actually voted for you, my friend!”
“But no one even knows me.”
“Of course they do or they wouldn’t have voted,” she said. “You’re a member of the debate team—”
“Which I suck at,” I put in.
“—which you do suck at,” Toni agreed, “but only because you’re so nice. You’re also in art and helped with the school’s theater production last year.”
I lifted my hands. “So did you. I helped a little, but you were basically in charge of that. I just touched up the scenery and made the celebratory cake at the end of the year.”
Toni grinned. “Must’ve been some cake.”
“Come on, Toni. Be serious.”
“I am,” she said, then examined her nails. “And you know, there was that time you were on TV.”
“But I was, like, nine years old!”
It was my one brush with fame. I’d submitted to be a part of this kids baking challenge and earned a spot with my cute pigtails and Easy-Bake Oven. I went home after round two, but it was a good experience. Then in middle school, I’d started a baking vlog which now had a decent following. It paired two of my favorite things: desserts (cakes, cookies, cupcakes etc.) with my favorite movies. But that was just for fun.
“People love a hometown star,” Toni added. “I’m just saying.”
“Wow,” I breathed.
“Yeah, wow and yay and all the other words used to convey happiness!” Toni laughed at the look on my face. “Why aren’t you more excited about this? Ariel, this is incredible!”
“This is going to be a disaster,” I mumbled.
Lana stepped up to my desk, and I realized people had already started leaving the room. The bell must’ve rung while I was in a Homecoming-induced stupor. Gah.
“Well,” Lana said, eyeing me up and down, “congratulations on making Court.”
I blinked. “Thanks, Lana. You too.”
“I don’t know how you did it,” she went on. “But this should at least be entertaining. I’ll see you after school, Cupcake.”
We both watched her go, Toni with a satisfied grin and me with a frown.
“That sounded ominous,” I said. “What do you think she meant by that?”
Toni shook her head. “You really were in la-la land for a second, weren’t you?”
I shrugged.
“Everyone who was nominated is supposed to meet in the cafeteria after school,” she said.
“Why?”
“To hear all about Court, what’s expected of you, the works.”
I smiled. “Well, that shouldn’t be hard. Homecoming Court is just walking out on a football field at halftime and accepting some flowers, right?”
Toni chuckled while shaking her head at me.
“Riiight,” she said in this drawn-out way that made me think it was so much more. But how could it be? I’d never been to Homecoming, wasn’t interested in football, and I preferred to keep my dancing skills confined to my bedroom.
But it was just one night. There wasn’t much to it.
“You better go, A. Wouldn’t want to be late.”
As I walked to the door in a daze, the principal’s words kept replaying in my mind.
Me? A princess?
I bit back a laugh. Yeah, right.
If I was, I must’ve been Sleeping Beauty, because I was obviously still dreaming.
